Lobbying by EU law firms -- a survey

The first stop of the tour was the European Seeds Association (ESA) in Rue du Luxembourg, a lobby group representing the interests of large seed firms like Bayer, Dow, Monsanto, Pioneer and Syngenta. The biotech and pesticides corporations are represented via many lobby associations, including also EuropaBio, the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA), Croplife and ILSI (International Life Sciences Institute).

It is now more than three months since the Commission launched its online register for lobbyists, and there are just over 370 entries. Exactly how good or bad that is in terms of compliance rate is difficult to judge, but it probably represents merely 5-10% of the total. The Commission has carefully avoided estimating the number of “interest representatives” (firms, industry lobby groups, NGOs, think-thanks, etc.) involved in lobbying the EU who should register.

 

Brussels, Wednesday 14 December 2011- The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has today published a new independence policy, aimed at improving EFSA's independence in delivering scientific opinions on food safety [1]. This new policy, developed following a public consultation and stakeholder workshop in October, will be up for approval by the EFSA Management Board when it meets on Thursday 15 December, in Warsaw.

The EU’s response to the financial crisis and the escalating eurocrisis has exposed more clearly than ever the disastrous dominance of neoliberal ideology. Obsessed with budgetary discipline, EU decision-makers are imposing sweeping austerity measures, privatising public services and cutting welfare. Corporate lobby groups see their longstanding demands implemented overnight while the living standards of millions are undermined and economies grind to a halt.